In the semiconductor industry, integrated circuit chips ("IC chips") are commonly transported within a manufacturing facility or shipped to customers in elongated, linear shipping tubes. The IC chips are typically positioned within the shipping tubes in a stacked or end-to-end linear configuration such that the front end of one IC chip abuts the back end of the next IC chip within the shipping tube ("chip sequence").
During various stages of the IC chip manufacturing process, it is desirable or even necessary to count the number of IC chips in a shipping tube (or a bundle of shipping tubes) prior to transporting the shipping tube(s) on to the next stage within the process or on to the customer. The customer may also desire to count the number of IC chips in a shipping tube that it receives or one that is being used in manufacturing. One method for counting IC chips within a shipping tube is to remove and manually count the IC chips. The manual counting process is, however, slow and subject to error. In addition, the chips are subjected to unnecessary handling. Another similar method is to visually count the IC chips within the shipping tube(s) (which may be constructed from a transparent or substantially transparent material). This method is also slow and generally subject to more error than the manual counting process.
Thus, there exists a need for an efficient scheme for counting IC chips within a chip sequence or bundle of chip sequences without having to remove the chips from the sequence.